A Junior Hearings Examiner conducts contested hearings at the entry level under senior examiner supervision — across an agency's adjudicatory programs in areas like utility rate disputes, professional licensing, gaming regulation, occupational safety — while building the technical regulatory fluency the role requires.
Junior Hearings Examiner pay typically runs $57K–$77K at this level, and jobs in this field are projected to hold roughly steady through 2034.
Most days can involve technical record review, supporting senior examiners in hearings (often involving expert witnesses), drafting decisions for senior review, and learning the substantive regulatory frameworks that govern the program. You're often working with sophisticated parties whose counsel knows the program's rules well, and the role builds toward independent regulatory adjudication.
The hardest parts often involve the technical depth required by the regulatory program — utility rate-setting, gaming compliance, environmental enforcement each carry their own regulatory architectures — and the stakes of decisions. Multi-million-dollar rate cases, license revocations, or operational sanctions land in the hearings examiner's purview; decisions often face commission or court review that scrutinizes the analysis.
People who tend to thrive here are technically curious, comfortable with sustained regulatory complexity, and patient with sophisticated litigation. If you want simpler dockets or generalist legal work, the regulatory-specific rhythm can feel narrow. If you find satisfaction in building toward deep mastery of a regulatory program, the entry-level role offers careers grounded in subject-matter expertise within respected administrative agencies.
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Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Don't do Truest if you aren't ready
to invest in yourself and your career.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
A Junior Hearings Examiner conducts contested hearings at the entry level under senior examiner supervision — across an agency's adjudicatory programs in areas like utility rate disputes, professional licensing, gaming regulation, occupational safety — while building the technical regulatory fluency the role requires.
Median pay for a Junior Hearings Examiner is about $115K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $57K to $204K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and Judgment and Decision Making.
Most people in this role hold a professional degree.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 0.7% through 2034, with roughly 16,230 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Hearings Examiner, Junior County Ordinary, and Medicaid Disability Claims Adjudicator.
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